@Jrock817
Here are some things to think about when considering what kind of tub you want to buy.
First of all, how much do you think you're going to use the jets and do you need a kajillion of them? I think a lot of people who are new to hot tubs tend to think they'll use their jets a lot and will need having dozens of them but then a lot of them realize later that they don't actually use the jets all that often and prefer just to relax and soak in a nice quiet spa.
Secondly, do you want one of these highly (and I would say overly) molded tubs that so many companies are making these days. I'm talking about tubs that have many sharp ridges and edges to the point where you can only sit one way in each of the spots and you have to sit exactly where the tub makes you sit and face whatever direction it makes you face? Personally, I dislike such tubs and much, much prefer tubs like mine that are not highly molded and let you sit pretty much wherever you want and sit facing in whatever direction you want.
Thirdly, does the tub have a dedicated, constantly running, high efficiency (low power consumption) circulation pump or does the design force a large jet pump to do double duty as a circ pump on a periodic basis? Large electric motors that are designed to run optimally at higher RPM for jets do not tend to be very efficient when you try to run them at a lower rpm for circulation.
A tub like mine, however, uses a very small, whisper quiet low power consumption circulation pump on it's own independent circuit. The circulation system runs 24/7 and by using such a small (39W) pump, I think it is more power efficient than systems that force a jet pump to act as a circulation pump part of the time. This has some real advantages that you might not be aware of. Because the circulation pump runs 24/7, the heating system can be switched on at any time because water coming out of the circ pump runs through the heater as well. My neighbor has a tub where the circulation pump only comes on at certain times and this is the only time the water in their tub can be heated. On really cold days, this results in the temperature of their water dropping quite a bit while you're out soaking in it. In the winter, we set our tubs at 103 or 104F. I have been out in their tub on a really cold night and have watched the water temp drop down to around 100 - 101F because the only time the heater can work is when the circulation pump is scheduled to come on. On my tub with the 24/7 circ pump going, the tub water can be constantly heated so my tub is way nicer to be in on a really cold night than theirs is. My tub is able to maintain the set temp or stay very close to it on very cold nights and their tub cannot and the reason is due to how the circulation and heating systems are designed in the two tubs. I think the way the circulation and heating systems my tub are designed and engineered is far superior to the way it's designed and engineered in their tub.
Another thing: how much insulation vs serviceability do you want your tub to have? My Hot Springs tub is completely injected full of insulation around the entire tub except for the engine room. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that by filling all of the space around all of the lines running to the various jets, the lines running to the jets cannot move around or flex outwards when the jets are turned on and there is a pressure surge in the jet lines. Preventing all this movement and flexing of the jet lines likely reduces their tendency to fail/start leaking over time due to material fatigue and repeated movement or flexing of the lines. I think that one can also argue that having so much insulation around the tub also likely keeps the heat in better and helps to reduce energy consumption and energy costs.
The downside of the tub cavity being injected completely full of dense foam insulation is that it makes those tubs very hard to find and fix leaks if a jet line does ever start leaking due to freezing or maybe just normal wear and tear. This is the tradeoff that you have to make in order to reap some of the other advantages of completely filling the cavity around the tub with dense insulating foam. If you live in a warmer climate, maybe having all of that extra insulation is not so necessary and having the tub's plumbing be more accessible and easier to repair is more important. If you live in a colder climate, then maybe having better insulation and energy efficiency is more important and is worth the trade-offs you have to make in serviceability/ease of repair.
In terms of all the other bells and whistles you can get with tubs nowadays (e.g. music systems, waterfalls, lighting effects, etc.,) it is up to you to decide how much having any of those things would matter to you in the long run. For me, all of these things are just things to go wrong and eventually need fixing and features I would hardly ever use. If I want music at my tub I just use a Bluetooth speaker and my phone. It sounds just fine and I can use it other places too. Why would I want to shell out big bucks to have a music system integrated into my hot tub (and can't be used anywhere else) and then have it just be another system that's expensive and difficult to fix if something ever goes wrong with it? Not for me, thank you very much but you may view things differently and that's okay too.
Personally, and from an engineering standpoint, I like the way that Watkins designs and makes its Hot Springs tubs (fully insulated cavity, dedicated/separate 24/7 circulation pump/heater circuit) but I do recognize that their way of doing things on a lot of their tubs is quite different from the way most other manufacturers do things. Their unique way of doing things may make their tubs more expensive to repair and/or make some parts more expensive but my Watkins Hot Springs Grandee is 28.5 years old and still going strong so I think I can argue the quality and reliability of their designs and engineering are there.
